UNICEF Contracts 1.1 Bln Doses of AstraZeneca, Novavax to Poorest Countries  

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced that it has signed a contract with the "SERM" Institute in India, for 1.1 billion doses of "AstraZeneca - Oxford" and "Novavax " vaccines, worth $ 3.3 billion (at a cost of $ 3 per dose), intended for the poorest countries.

"This is great news for those who have made donations to the (Kovacs) initiative and a strong demonstration of one of the basic principles of the initiative," said Henrietta Faure, executive director of the organization, in a statement reported by CNN today.

The US network indicated that the (Kovacs) initiative is an initiative led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the Alliance for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organization (WHO), and aims to accelerate the process of manufacturing Coronavirus vaccines on a large scale and to ensure fair and equal access to the vaccine for all countries of the world.

The network stated that UNICEF's announcement comes at a time when "Kovacs" is preparing to distribute 337 million doses of vaccine to the country's most in need, as a first stage of the initiative's distribution plan.

UNICEF stressed the need to make the Covid-19 vaccine available globally.

It noted that providing vaccines in rich countries only to protect their populations will not allow life to return to normal.

The UN organization said that as long as the virus continues to spread anywhere in the world, it represents a threat to us all ".

UNICEF said in a tweet through its official account on Twitter: "The Covid-19 vaccine must be global, let's be clear: protecting the rich countries alone will not allow life to return to normal, as long as the virus continues to spread anywhere in the world, it represents a threat to us all. To work together, as a United Nations